In this blog you will see a journey being taken by students and teacher to build up our minds, muscles and imaginations together through inquiry, exploration, investigation, problem solving and teamwork!

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Monday, December 23, 2013

How The Gingerbread Man Taught Us To Be Problem Solvers

As usual around this time of year, I start reading different versions of "The Gingerbread Man."

These stories are great for discussing parts of a good story! We created a web map for each version showing characters, setting, problem, and solution. We also have been discussing how to tell who the main character is.

In Writer's Workshop we are authors and illustrators and write books. Every child writes at the level they are at. They LOVE writing books!!! They usually choose to write about our inquiries, but they choose what they want to write a book about! Most have been writing nonfiction, but now, most are wanting to write their own versions of "The Gingerbread Man." They are working hard to make sure they include a main character, supporting characters, a setting (shown through their illustrations) a problem and a solution. They are also making sure their stories have a beginning, middle and ending.

During our Exploration time, they took our new friend Gingy and hid him, then let their friends find him.

They also created paper gingerbread people using art supplies.

We made gingerbread cookies, of coarse!

Like with the masquerade masks, they did a great job of creating plans! It really makes them think about what they want their product to look like, rather than randomly spreading as much candy around their cookie as possible!

One day, we came to school and found out that, like all Gingerbread Men do, our Gingy ran away! Just like in the stories, we had a problem! We decided that instead of throwing fits or giving up, we could try to solve the problem! They decided to create posters to hang up all over our school. They decided the posters needed to state the problem and how they could help us. They created posters and taped them all over our school.

Over night, he visited our room! We saw that he likes to read Gingerbread stories! He left all the different versions on the floor opened up to his favorite parts.

When the kids saw that the posters didn't solve the problem, they came up with another idea! Some decided to create traps during our exploration time. They had some very creative ideas on how to catch him, such as make a gingerbread girl to lure him back, make a trail of candies from the hallway to a trap in our room, have a net with candy in it set out for him to get tangled in... Their ideas were so smart! They started making plans and asking for materials right away! I gathered boxes, ribbon, pipe cleaners, tape, paper tubes...anything I could find that they may be able to use. After that, they got right to work!

I loved listening to them talk to each other about how their trap was going to work. There was a lot of planning, and problem solving going on as they figured out how their traps would work! Here are a few of the traps.

This next one is the one that ended up catching Gingy. They hung a bag from the elevated box and tried to make a net out of yarn at the opening of the bag.

They wrote notes for him, sealed them in envelopes and put them into the bag to lure him in, along with a candy cane (The envelope in the picture says, "Welcome to your new home," to trick him.).The plan was for Gingy to get his foot caught in the net as he was looking into the bag at the notes. That would make him fall into the bag where he would get stuck. It worked exactly as they planned as you can see in the picture below!

I am always amazed at what important business this is for five and six year olds. They were VERY serious about making the posters and creating traps to get Gingy back. They were upset Gingy was gone and worked very hard to solve the problem. Being problem solvers was the under lying theme for this whole unit. We focused very heavily on the importance of solving problems not only in our projects, but in every area of our lives. I now hear kids saying to themselves and friends, "We can solve this problem!" or "We are problem solvers!" Many have come up to me so proud telling me that they had a problem but they solved it! This is really helping with the tattling also! If they tattle and I say, "That sounds like a problem," they grin, then come back later to tell me how they solved the problem...and they are so proud of themselves! Now, rather than tattling, they try to go to who they are having a problem with and try solving the problem first. If they tried and can't solve the problem, then they come to me for help. Problem solving is an important 21st Century Skill and having problem solving skills will help them be successful both academically and socially!

Before our Winter Break, the kids decided on two things they would like to inquire about... Castles/medieval times and Music! They wanted to do Castles first so we will start that in January. I have never had kids so interested in this so I will be doing a lot of research over winter break to find experiences for them as we investigate! I believe we will incorporate a Fairy Tale Study during Writer's Workshop during this Inquiry also! I have a feeling we will be building some castles so if you have any boxes or materials that you think would be useful, send them in!

I am a Kindergarten Teacher for West Carrollton City Schools (West Carrollton, Ohio, U.S.). I have taught kindergarten for 24 years. In this blog, you will see both teacher and students on a journey to build up our minds, muscles, and imaginations through inquiry, investigation, exploration, problem solving and teamwork. We learn together through a project/inquiry and play based learning environment. I have been on a journey from a traditional, thematic based teaching style to a more student-led, project/inquiry and play based teaching style. The more I learn from all of you wonderful teachers around the world, the more fun I am having inquiring, exploring and learning along side my students. I hope that this blog will be an inspiration for those of you thinking about doing the same.